This section is intended to provide relevant contextual information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the described embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light and not as admissions of prior art.
Hydrocarbon-producing wells often are stimulated by hydraulic fracturing (e.g., fracking) operations, in which a servicing fluid, such as a fracturing fluid or a perforating fluid, may be introduced into a portion of a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore at a hydraulic pressure sufficient to create or enhance at least fractures within the subterranean formation. The servicing fluid may include sand or other proppants suspended within the fluid such that the proppant is able to hold the fractures open within the subterranean fluid after the hydraulic pressure is removed. Such a subterranean formation stimulation treatment may increase hydrocarbon production from the well.
At times when using the proppant and pumping the proppant into the wellbore, the proppant carried by the fluid may accumulate and build up in a treating work string positioned within the wellbore, or within the wellbore itself, often referred to as a “sand out.” In such instances, the treating work string needs to be removed from the wellbore and replaced by a clean out work string to remove and recirculate the proppant. Once cleaned, the clean out work string may then be replaced by the treating work string. However, these additional trips with the work string and the clean out string may add several days, or more, overall to complete the hydraulic fracturing operation.